Cancer and infectious disease are significant health problems throughout the world. Although advances have been made in detection and therapy of these diseases, no vaccine or other universally successful method for prevention or treatment is currently available. Current therapies, which are generally based on a combination of chemotherapy or surgery and radiation, continue to prove inadequate in many patients.
Molecular chaperones are essential for maintaining cellular functions by assisting protein folding and translocation, or by preventing protein misfolding and aggregation. Studies over the last two decades support the concept of intracellular chaperone molecules as carriers of the antigenic repertoire of cancer cells, which is attributed to their intrinsic property to interact with polypeptide chains. Autologous tumor-derived, chaperone-peptide complex preparations, therefore, provide an innovative immunotherapeutic approach to treatment of cancers. However, only limited improvement in the clinical outcome has been achieved using this approach.
In spite of considerable research into therapies for infectious disease and cancer, these diseases remain difficult to diagnose and treat effectively. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved methods for treating cancer and infectious disease. The present invention fulfills these needs and further provides other related advantages.